


Sunsets on Kadara

by cosmicsleep



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, archon's ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 22:18:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13844172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicsleep/pseuds/cosmicsleep
Summary: After completing the mission on the Archon's ship, Marzia gets an email from Reyes stating that they need to talk. And she's too tired to keep fighting the inevitable.





	Sunsets on Kadara

_“…the stasis field only holds living organics in place, Pathfinder.”_  
“What do you mean?”  
_“I can drop your vitals and when you’re released, I can restart your heart.”_  
“SAM. I—is there no other way?”  
_“Not that I can calculate, Ryder.”_  
“What’s he suggesting, Marzia?” Cora asked, eyes narrowed in concern. “What’s wrong?”  
Mars inhaled deeply and, as she released it, said, “Do it.”  
_“Yes, Pathfinder,”_ SAM said as Cora and Peebee exclaimed, “Do what?”  
The feeling of her heart slowing was unpleasant, she thought as her sight grew dim. She wasn’t quite sure what she had expected dying to be like, but this strange feeling that wasn’t painful but wasn’t pleasant either wasn’t it. Fear shot adrenaline through her veins in a last ditch ever to speed up her heartbeat, but all she could think as everything went black was, _I don’t want to die. Not again._

* * *

 

 

Mars shot up in bed, gasping for air and looking around wildly. The sheets were tangled in her legs and her hand grasped the shirt she was wearing at the chest, nails digging into her palms through the material. She tried to push her hair out of her face, but strands stuck to her cheeks and she realized she was crying. But I’m alive, she thought. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over and she clutched her knees to her chest as she sobbed.  
_“Ryder,”_ SAM’s voice said quietly. _“Are you all right? Your pulse is elevated.”_  
Mars nodded slowly. “I’m fine, SAM,” she whispered, voice cracking. “Just a nightmare. How long was I asleep?”  
_“Thirty minutes.”_  
Her chin trembled as she tried to hold in her desperation. She needed something to distract her, something to keep her from crying. She hated being so scared, so helpless. “We still have hours before we reach the Nexus, then,” she murmured, disappointed.  
_“That is correct.”_ There was a pause that seemed like SAM was considering her condition and whether she was fine enough to complete the task. _“You have new emails at your console.”_  
She glanced across the room to where SAM and her computer sat, weighing the options. On the one hand, if it was the Nexus or an outpost asking her to stop somewhere to help, she was seriously considering ignoring it. She didn’t have the energy to deal with them, with much of anything, right now. On the other hand, if it was a friend asking about her or asking to talk at some point, it didn’t seem like that arduous of a task. She sighed and untangled herself from the sheets, standing on shaky legs. Dying and then continuing on to complete the mission of saving the Salarian Ark and finding the map to Meridian as if nothing had happened had taken its toll on her body.  
Collapsing onto the desk chair, she pulled up her email and glanced over the few sitting in her inbox. One or two were from people who had heard news of the Leusinia reaching the Nexus, thanking her for bringing it back safely—or as safely as she could. One was from Director Tann requesting to talk to her as soon as the Tempest docked back on the Nexus, and the last. The last was from Reyes, surprising even her. The subject read _We Need to Talk_ , causing her anxiety to spike. Nothing good ever came out of those words. She swallowed and opened it, hesitating before beginning to read.  
_To: Marzia Ryder_  
_From: Reyes Vidal_  
_Marzia,_  
_If what I’ve been hearing around the Port is true, we really need to talk. Please. Meet me at the place where it ended as soon as you have the time._  
_Reyes_  
_P.S. You might have the worst luck in the world, if all this is true._  
Mars stared at the message, uncomprehending. Reyes wanted to talk? What did they have to talk about? They’d already solved the business between the Collective and the Initiative, and the Pathfinder team had already finished everything that needed to be done on Kadara that she could think of. Sure, there were still firefights between the remaining Outlaws and the Collective, but that wasn’t her problem. That was Reyes’s. If he was contacting her just to ask her to do _his_ dirty work, he had another thing coming.  
But he wanted to meet “at the place where it ended,” which could only mean Draullir. The one place where Reyes revealed his biggest secret and Sloane died, cementing the Collective as the ruling faction. Where Kadara Port’s largest problem finally came to an end, and the rift between Reyes and Mars began. She’d said she needed time, she didn’t know how to feel about him being the Charlatan, about _him_ in general. The last time they’d spoken, it was to cement the deal for the Initiative to place an outpost on the planet. She’d read and ignored every message concerning personal matters from him since.  
She sighed. “SAM, tell Kallo to adjust course,” she said, placing her head in her hands.  
_“Of course, Pathfinder. Where to?”_  
She couldn’t run from it forever, she supposed.  
“Kadara.”

 

* * *

  
Reyes stood on Draullir’s cliff, leaning against the cave wall as he watched Adhi play together far below. He’d gotten the message from Marzia a few hours ago, a sight that made him do a double-take. If he was being honest, he hadn’t really expected her to agree. She’d ignored all of his previous messages to meet, he didn’t really think this one would receive any other treatment. But he’d had to try. After hearing the rumors of what went down on the Archon’s ship—and he was adamant that they were rumors, he refused to believe otherwise—he reached out to her one last time.  
He hadn’t liked the way things had ended, or the fact that they had ended at all. Even more surprising was the fact that he was _sad_ things had ended. _Shameless flirt,_ they called him. _He sleeps with anything willing._ Not technically untrue, but since Marzia had asked for a break after the revelation, his heart hadn’t been in it. It was part of his charm, he lamented, how he got so many people to do what he wanted. Being a flirt was a technique; butter them up and everything you want slips right into your hands. Unfortunately, every time he’d tried to do so since, the charm had fallen flat. He’d get what he wanted, of course, but it was harder—more work. Not something he was used to.  
“You wanted to talk?”  
Reyes shifted, turning around to find the Pathfinder standing in the middle of the cave opening. She stood a good distance from him, he noted, her posture wary. It sent a pang through his chest. He’d wanted her to trust him, wanted her to look at him as she had been. Like a petty smuggler whose only goal was to be better. Not the way she was looking at him now. Like she couldn’t trust a word that came out of his mouth. _Keema was right,_ he thought for the hundredth time, he should’ve told her sooner.  
“Marzia.” His voice was soft, surprised. “You came.”  
She gave him a dubious look. “You obviously got my responding message,” she said, picking her way closer to the cliff’s edge. “Why are you so surprised?”  
“Thought maybe it was your idea of revenge,” he replied, trying for a smirk. “You know, get me out here and never show up.”  
Mars didn’t return the smile, glancing out across the vast expanse of Kadara. “Damn it, that’s a good idea,” she hissed, frowning. “Maybe next time.”  
“Next time?” He couldn’t help the shard of hope that splintered its way out of his chest and into his voice. Damn, he used to be better at this.  
Marzia glanced sideways at him, a smirk ghosting her lips before it vanished. “I know that look,” she said quietly. “You’re cursing yourself for being so obvious.”  
Reyes leaned back against the wall, forcing as much nonchalance as he could into the pose. “Obvious about what?” he asked, dropping his voice an octave and looking at her through his lashes. “You know I like making sure pretty women know I’m interested in them.”  
There was no amusement in Marzia’s eyes as she stared back at him. She seemed to be considering something, him maybe, before returning her gaze to the horizon. “You wanted to talk, Vidal,” she said finally, “so talk.”  
He cursed himself again. That was not the reaction he had been looking for, though what he had hoped she would reply to that with, he wasn’t quite sure. He pressed his palms into his eyes, seeing stars before he ran them through his hair and dropped them. Rocks shifted under his weight as he took a step towards her, but that was as far as he made it before she whirled to face him and took a step back. _No getting close, then,_ he thought, _got it._  
“I’ve been hearing some…things,” he began slowly, trying to find the right words. He normally didn’t have so much trouble with this. “Things about what happened on the Archon’s ship.”  
He watched the shutters close over her eyes, the green irises turning flinty. “We got the map to Meridian and the Salarian Ark back,” she snapped, teeth barely separating. “That’s all anyone else needs to know, including you.”  
Lips pressed together, he took a breath in through his nose and tried again. “The things I’ve been hearing,” he murmured, voice as calming and reassuring as he could make it. “They’re horrible, Mars. No—”  
“No.” The word was harsh and echoed throughout the rest of the cave. Reyes blinked at her, stunned. “You don’t get to call me that,” she continued, voice cracking. The shutters were shaking in her eyes. “You don’t have any right.”  
The silence that stretched between them in those few moments was palpable. He couldn’t comprehend why she would snap at him for that, he’d always called her Mars. Especially after finding out that her father and brother…  
_Oh_.  
Right. Her father and brother used to call her that. And if she still saw him as someone she couldn’t trust, then there was no way she’d want that name falling from his lips.  
He cleared his throat. “All right. But I need to know what happened,” he persisted. “If what they’re saying is true, I—I…”  
“You _what_?” she said viciously. “You’ll go back in time and stop it?” Her laugh was humorless. “Yeah, not even you have that technology, Vidal. Though I don’t doubt your capability of finding someone who does. ” She paused and studied him. “We’re done, I’m leaving. Let me know if something happens to Ditaeon.”  
There it was again. Why did she keep using his last name? She was trying to distance herself from him, both physically and emotionally, and it was frustrating him. He just wanted to talk like they’d used to, like they had on the rooftop overlooking the Port when they’d stolen the whiskey from Sloane. It’d been easy. _So easy,_ he thought with a frown. His heart twisted in his chest and he choked back the lump in his throat.  
“They’re saying you died,” he said finally. His voice was so quiet that he almost thought she didn’t hear him. But no, she’d stopped, refusing to turn around to look at him. “That your heart stopped beating and stayed like that for thirty seconds.” He paused, looking for a reaction, then barreled on when he saw none. “Then, like it hadn’t even happened, you continued the mission. Just waltzed right through the Kett ship like it was a—”  
She whirled on him suddenly, eyes wild. “I know! I was _there_ , Reyes!” Marzia’s voice was a scream, the desperation causing it to crack. She sucked in a large breath that sounded much more like a gasp. “I _lived_ through that nightmare—o-or not. I don’t know. Either way, I don’t need it repeated back to me!”  
Reyes reached for her, letting his hand drop back to his side when she avoided his touch. He hadn’t meant to push her this far, he’d just wanted the truth. Ironic, now that he thought about it. He ran his fingers through his hair again and looked at her, really looked at her.  
Her curls were loose, resting at the mid of her back. It was frizzy and a mess, visible knots clumped in places. The strands that framed her face looked as if she’d been constantly running her fingers through it, a habit he’d noticed she did when she was nervous or scared. Her face looked drawn, the circles under her eyes dark and purple. Her eyes themselves were red, as if she’d been crying, and underneath her brown skin, she was pale. Her wary stance, he realized, wasn’t because she was uncertain of him—it wasn’t wary at all. It was weary. She was tired, and he wasn’t making it any better.  
“ _Mierda_ ,” she cursed, echoing his thoughts. When he refocused on her, he found her swiping at her eyes. The tears were spilling over too fast for her to hide them. “Please, not now. Not right now,” she whispered to herself.  
His heart broke all over again. Here he was, demanding answers far too soon to the event in question and justifying it to himself that he just wanted to protect her. But he couldn’t protect her from something that had already happened, he realized, and he was only making it worse. His hands shook as he clenched them into fists and then released them, frowning.  
Marzia had collapsed in on herself, hands cupping her elbows as her shoulders shook with silent sobs. Her face was hidden by her hair. He stepped closer to her, and when she didn’t move away, he closed the distance between them and crouched beside her. She didn’t acknowledge his presence, not when he put a hand on her shoulder tentatively or when he sat down and pulled her into his chest. It was his fault that she was in this state, it was only right that he make her feel better. At least, that was what he told himself.  
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair, stroking it in an attempt to sooth. “I know. I shouldn’t have said anything, I’m sorry.”  
His attempts to sooth her weren’t because of the pain the sounds of her sobs caused him, nor was the tightening of his arms around her. He was doing this purely because of how horribly he had treated her. What she’d been through couldn’t have been easy, and he’d gone and made an ass of himself. Again.  
He began to rock them gently, feeling the fingers clutching his shirt relax little by little. His mother had done this with him when he was young, soothing his nightmares into distant memories. She’d hum a little tune to help him fall asleep, but he refrained from repeating it. Mostly because he sounded akin to an ox when he tried to sing than because he couldn’t remember it. And right now, Marzia didn’t need to go deaf because her ex-boyfriend thought it would be funny.  
_Ex_ , he thought. _Fuck me, I actually liked her._ Like _her._  
Something passed through his chest, something that made the idea that he _just_ liked her feel like it was wrong. But he pushed the thought away and focused on the woman in his arms again, noting that she’d been silent and still for a few minutes now. “Hey,” he said softly, grabbing her attention. He pushed strands of hair away from her face as she leaned away to look up at him. “Are you okay?”  
She snorted. “What a question,” she laughed. “Asking a person who died a few hours ago if they’re okay.” There was a smile on her face, and when his heart thudded in his chest, he realized he’d missed it. “If I’m being honest,” she whispered, “I don’t know if I’ve been okay since reaching Andromeda.”  
He readjusted his position to lean back against a boulder, dropping his hands from her shoulders to grasp hers. “Why’s that?” He twiddled with their laced fingers to avoid her gaze. The revelation moving slowly through his mind was making him nervous and he didn’t like it. Reyes Vidal was never nervous, even in the face of death.  
She hiccupped and smiled feebly. “Let’s just say that this wasn’t the first time I’ve died,” she murmured.  
His gaze shot to hers, hands tightening on hers. “You’ve _what_?” He tugged on her hands and pulled her back into his chest. “No.”  
“No what?” There was amusement in her voice, marred by confusion. The sound made his heart feel lighter.  
“You can’t leave,” he mumbled into her hair. “You’ve already died twice and both times, I wasn’t there. Coincidence? I think not.”  
A laugh bubbled up from her throat. “Reyes, I don’t think you’re the deciding factor in whether I live or die,” she told him. She pulled back to look him in the eye. “Unfortunately for you, you’re just a normal, human man.”  
“Nope, you’re staying here. On Kadara. Where I can watch you and make sure you don’t die, _again_.”  
Mars laughed again, which quickly turned back into tears. She dropped her face into her hands. “Why?”  
Reyes’s eyebrows drew together, confused by the question. “Because I…” He swallowed the words before they could leave his mouth, then sighed. “Because I care about you. A great deal, I’m afraid. If anything… _permanent_ ever happened to you, I’m not sure I could handle it.”  
“Not what I meant,” she murmured, shaking her head. “I meant, it’s not fair. It’s not fair how much pain I’m in just thinking about you, how much of my heart you had before the duel with Sloane. How much of it you _still_ have, Reyes.” She paused, her eyes searching his. If she found what she’d been looking for, he didn’t know it. “Everything’s been too fast here, in Andromeda. No time to deal with anything except the Kett and getting the damn cluster livable and _not staying dead_. No time for figuring out how to deal with it.”  
“Deal with what?” His hopes whispered ideas in his mind, but he shoved them away. Now was no time for hoping for the impossible. He’d screwed up by keeping that secret from her, he knew that.  
She sighed. “I’m aware that you’ve always had secrets from me, Reyes,” she told him. She glanced out to the horizon again, watching the sun set under the mountains. “With your occupation, it was kind of a given. I just…I just thought we’d had more trust in each other to know the bigger things.” She looked back up at him. “You had to know that I would find out at some point.”  
“I know.” He bit his bottom lip, mouth quirking up on one end. “I told you, I liked the way you looked at me. I knew once you found out, I’d never see it again. No one likes a con artist for long, least of all a shadow such as I.”  
She rolled her eyes. “I see your dramatic flair hasn’t gone anywhere,” she said. “I seem to remember telling you on a rooftop that you were someone to me, though, which means you just didn’t have faith in me.”  
“I’m sorry, Marzia,” he whispered, swallowing hard. “I know an apology will never make it right, but I know I screwed up. I should have told you sooner.”  
“You’re right, apologies won’t make everything better.” Reyes tried to ignore the way his heart dropped into his stomach. “But it’s a start, and everything—good and bad—has that.”  
She leaned in and kissed him softly, a quick press of lips that had his whole body tingling. This was much more than he’d been expecting. In fact, he’d probably been expecting her to slap him and storm out. He’d witnessed that far more times than he cared to admit. As she pulled away, though, he grasped the sides of her face gently and pressed his lips against hers again. It wasn’t forceful or desperate, just touching, feeling. She was here, she was solid, she was willing to forgive him. She was _alive_.  
With a startling realization, he pulled back, eyes wide. His thumb wiped a stray tear that hadn’t quite dried yet off her cheek as he took her in. That’s all he’d wanted when he’d asked her to meet him, he realized. It hadn’t mattered if she forgave him or hated his guts for the rest of their lives. He’d just needed to know she was safe, or as safe as she could be being a Pathfinder in this galaxy. He’d just needed to see her alive for himself, no matter how many times he heard the others praise her ability to just barely escape Death’s fingers. Nothing could satisfy like the ability to see for oneself.  
He swallowed hard and pushed the tears struggling to the surface back, but not quick enough to fool Marzia. “What’s wrong?” she asked, reaching up to grasp one of his wrists with her hand.  
“Nothing,” he sighed, leaning his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes briefly before glancing up at her through his lashes. “Just…please don’t die again. I’m not willing to lose you, not to this.”  
She huffed a laugh, pressing a kiss to his nose. “Reyes Vidal, incapable of living without another human being? Blasphemy!” she exclaimed, grinning. “You’d be fine. Move right on to the next attractive person that catches your eye.”  
He smirked back. “Mars, you wound me,” he said, voice husky. “I’m afraid that is simply not true. My taste in people has…improved quite a bit since meeting you. So much so, that I could suggest that only you fit my palette.”  
“Oh my god,” Marzia giggled, pressing a hand to her mouth. “When did you get so cheesy?”  
“A broken heart could change any man.”  
“ _Stop_.”  
He grinned, content to just watch her laugh forever. This was what he’d missed all this time, just being with her. Talking. He hadn’t realized how often she’d stopped by while she was working on improving Kadara’s living conditions. Tartarus had felt emptier since she’d left, even with a room full of people. The thought of Tartarus sparked something in his mind and he jumped to his feet, pulling up the screen for his omni-tool. There weren’t any speakers here, so his omni-tool would have to do…as long as it worked.  
“What are you doing?” Mars asked from her perch on the ground. She watched as he stretched a hand down towards her, bent at the waist. “Oh no,” she said as she realized, “I don’t dance.”  
He leaned down and grabbed her hand anyway. “That is a _lie_ , my lady,” he said, pulling her into his chest and wrapping an arm around her waist. The music tinkled out of his omni-tool, almost too quiet to hear, but it worked. “I saw you at Sloane’s party.”  
“That was a one time thing, Reyes. And it was to distract the crowd while you _stole_ whiskey from Sloane’s personal stocks.”  
“I know.” His smile was fond as he watched the light play across her face. “I hope this makes up for your having to dance with that Turian with two left feet.”  
She threw her head back and laughed. “Kaetus actually wasn’t as bad as some partners I’ve had,” she defended, giving Reyes a look.  
“Don’t give me that look, you haven’t ever danced with me before.” He grinned mischievously. “But you will after tonight.”  
She narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say a word. The way he said that made her feel like there was more than just dancing on their agenda for the night, but she wouldn’t say the ideas coming to mind were bad. She relaxed into his hold and leaned her head against his chest, watching the scenery change as they slowly danced in circles. The ground was too uneven for anything more complicated.  
She closed her eyes as the last rays of sunlight kissed her face and hurried away.


End file.
